Canada’s Big 5 bank CEOs pay rises 6.5% to earn $54M in 2018

TORONTO — The chief executives of Canada’s five largest banks collectively earned roughly $63.2 million in total compensation during the 2018 financial year, up about 12 per cent from the previous year.

Based on the banks’ latest proxy circulars, Toronto-Dominion Bank’s chief executive Bharat Masrani received the highest overall pay for the 12 months ended Oct. 31, 2018 at $15.3 million in total compensation, which includes elements such as base salary, performance-based incentives and pension value.

That’s up roughly 23 per cent from Masrani’s $12.4 million in total compensation for the 2017 fiscal year, marking the biggest annual pay bump amongst the five bank chiefs.

The second-highest paid banking chief executive was Royal Bank of Canada’s Dave McKay, who saw an eight per cent pay increase to $14.5 million in total compensation, followed by Bank of Nova Scotia’s Brian Porter who received $13.3 million, up 3.2 per cent from the previous year.

The Bank of Montreal’s chief executive Darryl White received $10.1 million in total compensation in his first full year at the helm, up 22 per cent from fiscal 2017.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s chief executive Victor Dodig received roughly $10 million in total compensation in the 2018 financial year, up 6.5 per cent from a year earlier.